Roberson explodes in first half, Judges move to Elite Eight with 74-63 win over Plattsburgh State

Mar 14, 2008

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Brandeis University sophomore guard Andre
Roberson scored 18 of his team-high 20 points in the first half,
including 11 in a key run over the last six minutes, as the Judges
snapped the home-standing Plattsburgh State Cardinals' 20-game
winning streak with a 74-63 victory in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA
Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. The Judges advance to
take on Amherst, who defeated Richard Stockton, 85-77, for the
right to go to the Final Four.

Plattsburgh (27-3) led by as many as five points in the first half,
the latest point coming on a pair of Antwane Miller free throws at
the 6:55 mark to put the Cardinals ahead, 26-21. Roberson answered
to cut the lead to 26-23 and then drew a key offensive foul on
Plattsburgh senior leader Anthony Williams, his third of the first
half. After Williams was removed from the game, the Judges went on
a 16-4 run over the rest of the half. Roberson tied the game with a
trifecta on the next possession. After another Miller free throw,
sophomore Kenny Small gave the Judges a 28-27 lead with a lay-up on
a Roberson assist. Plattsburgh's Travis Gorham tied the game with a
foul shot, but Roberson converted a traditional three-point play,
followed by a Joe Coppens 3-pointer to put the Judges up by six,
34-28. Two more Cardinal turnovers without their leader on the
floor led to a Roberson long-range bomb and a Coppens lay-up before
Plattsburgh's Khylan Hunt hit two more free throws to make the
halftime deficit 39-30. Roberson led all players with 18 points at
the break on 6-of-11 shooting, while Williams had 11 points and
four assists for the Cardinals, as he was involved in nine of their
11 buckets. Brandeis connected on 6-of-9 from downtown, as Coppens
and Roberson were both 3-of-4 from deep.

In the second, Plattsburgh opened with intense pressure, keeping
the Judges off the board for the first 3:40, but they were unable
to convert. The hosts missed two free throws and a couple of
lay-ups, hitting two from the line before Brandeis's Kevin Olson
connected from deep to give Brandeis their first double-digit lead,
42-32, with 16:20 left. The margin bounced between six and 10 for
much of the next eight minutes, with a Stephen Hill lay-up giving
the Judges a 54-46 lead with 8:20 left.

At that point, Plattsburgh State went on an 8-2 run with four
different players contributing, that tied it, 56-56, with 4:46
left. The Judges answered as Olson connected from deep in the
corner and the grabbed a key defensive rebound. A Hill jumper
pushed the lead back to 5, and after Williams made a back-door
lay-up, Coppens was on the spot as Kwame Graves-Fulgham found him
in the corner after a loose ball, and Coppens nailed another
trifecta to make the lead 66-58 with 1:36 left. Williams came down
and hit the Cardinals' first 3-pointer to answer with 1:30 left,
but Terrell Hollins' put-back of an Olson missed 3-ball with 0:58
left put the game away at 68-61.

For the game, Brandeis put four players in double figures, led by
Roberson's third 20-point game of the season. Coppens finished with
16 points and four assists, while Hollins had 14 and a team-high
nine rebounds. Hill finished with 10 points on 5-of-6 from the
field. Graves-Fulgham had a team-high five assists.

Williams led all players with 28 points, 17 coming in the second
half. He hit 12-of-24 from the floor with a 3-pointer and three
free throws. Gorham recorded a double-double with 11 points and a
game-high 11 rebounds.